The Marlins have announced a series of roster moves in advance of today’s double-header with the Cubs, including the news that left-hander A.J. Puk has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to fatigue in his throwing shoulder. As was reported yesterday, Roddery Munoz was indeed called up from Triple-A, and he’ll officially act as the 27th man for the double-header. Right-hander Kyle Tyler will also join the active roster after his contract was selected from Triple-A, and the Marlins moved southpaw Josh Simpson to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster opening for Tyler.
Puk just pitched yesterday, and was tagged for seven earned runs over three innings of work in an 8-3 Miami loss to Chicago. It was the roughest yet of four lackluster starts for Puk, who now has a 9.22 ERA over 13 2/3 innings of work, with an alarming 17 walks over that brief amount of time on the mound. Manager Skip Schumaker told reporters (including Fish On First’s Isaac Azout) yesterday that the club hasn’t yet considered moving Puk back to the bullpen, though today’s injury news could change the equation considerably.
First and foremost, Puk’s lengthy injury history adds an extra layer of concern to any new health issues, even something as relatively minor as shoulder fatigue. Puk missed all of the 2018 season and a chunk of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and then missed the entire 2020 season due to a lingering shoulder problem that eventually required surgery. Since it wasn’t clear if Puk’s arm would hold up under a starter’s workload, the Athletics used him as a reliever, and the result was a breakout year in 2022. Oakland traded Puk to the Marlins in the 2022-23 offseason for JJ Bleday, and Puk continued the success last season with more strong work out of Miami’s relief corps.
With Puk now established as a big leaguer, the Marlins decided to see what he could still offer as a starter, and stretched him out this spring with an eye towards putting him into the rotation. Clearly the experiment hasn’t worked out to date, and once Puk is back from the IL, he could find himself in the relief corps again if Miami has stabilized the rest of its rotation. Between Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez undergoing Tommy John surgery and season-opening IL stints for Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett, the Fish didn’t really have much choice but to keep rolling Puk out there, though Cabrera has now since returned.
Max Meyer pitched well over three starts but was then optioned to Triple-A despite those strong results, as the Marlins are looking to limit his innings in the wake of a Tommy John surgery. Munoz is making his MLB debut today with a start against the Cubs, and Puk’s injury could mean that Munoz gets a longer look against big league competition. Tyler could also technically be a starting candidate, though the Marlins used him as a reliever in both of his Triple-A appearances this season.
Tyler has started 60 of his 108 career games in the minors, including starts in 26 of his 27 appearances with the Mariners’ Double-A affiliate in 2023. With only a 5.60 ERA to show for those 135 innings, it represented a setback for Tyler, who banked 16 1/3 innings of MLB experience with the Angels and Padres in 2021-22. He had previously pitched well in Double-A ball before running into problems in Triple-A, with a 5.68 ERA over 44 1/3 frames at the top minor league level. The Marlins signed Tyler to a minor league deal during the offseason, and he’ll give the team some extra depth in the pen at least through today’s twin bill.
Simpson started the year on the 15-day IL due to elbow ulnar neuritis, and his move to the 60-day IL means that he won’t be an option for the big league roster until late May. He has banked only one minor league appearance this season back on April 6, and between the lack of subsequent action and now this move to the 60-day IL, it remains to be seen when Simpson might be back in action. The 26-year-old has yet to make his Major League debut, but has been a member of Miami’s organization since he was drafted in the 32nd round in 2019.
“Roddery Munoz” is surely better than Max Meyer
What the Puk is this?
One Puk that fell short of the goal.
“Woddewy”
They need to give up on Puk’s starter experiment already, he cleary can’t pitch as a starter. I seen his game vs the Pirates and it was awful, and hasn’t gotten much better. Not everyone is like the Rays and could turn these guys into good starters. He doesn’t have the control and pitch mix to start.
“Give up on Puk’s starter”…Agreed. It’s amazing how fast a team can go from “loaded with pitching” to “desperate for pitching” in just a few months time.
Yep, literally you can never have enough. Funny I was watching Boston vs Pittsburgh last night and the Sox, who many thought had a poor rotation, have the best ERA so far. It’s hard to explain.
Not if you are a Giants fan. Seen it before. Andrew Bailey.
Fatigue is code for he’s pitching like garbage
Sounds like a classic case of suckitis
Yeah, this looks very suspiciously like one of those fake IL placements where they haven’t given up on the guy, so they want him to get some practice in without hurting the team, but they can’t option him to the minors.
@lani
I believe mets gm got suspended for a yr for doing that last season
@Johnny utah
Correction: Mets GM got suspended for being the one GM that was dumb enough to get caught doing it.
I can’t wait for Avi Grcia’s next stint on the IL for whatever he’s had at the end of last season when the Marlins were fighting to make the playoffs. It may have been Chronic Bat-Ball Connection Phobia.
@marlins
I heard a mets employee wrote a letter to mlb ratting him out
If they don’t want Mayer I’m sure 29 others would love to have him
Puk is not an MLB ready pitcher!!!
Not an MLB starter for sure. He’s demonstrated he can be an effective reliever
You watch – another rough outing for Luzardo today vs. Cubs & they’ll be announcing something’s wrong with him, too. I’m not wishing for anything to be wrong for the guy; it’s just that he hasn’t looked right over his last couple of starting assignments.
@coop
I hope he has a strong outing and looks good – otherwise, who knows? The way pitchers’ arms are exploding these days, anything’s possible.
Failed experiment
Hmmm…Puk stinking it up as a Starter. Bullpen in shambles. It’s doesn’t take rocket science to figure out what the Marlins need to do once they let Puk’s arm rest.